Month: April 2012 (Page 2 of 2)

Day 3/6 of “Biking and Blogging” on the Classic Adventures Texas Hill Country Tour.

Our ride today took us from Comfort to Fredericksburg, the heart of Texas hill country.

We packed up and took our luggage to the van for the last time on the tour, at least until the end of the tour. Our next four nights are in Fredericksburg at the Inn on Barons Creek. No more moving!

It might sound like a small thing, maybe it even is, but when you’re biking from place to place, sometimes (all the time) the last thing you feel like doing is unpacking, only to have to repack the next morning. It doesn’t make sense to actually unpack for just one night, but four nights we could really settle in. Plus, it would save time in the mornings so we could sleep later – eureka!

On a bike tour with decent daily mileage (at least 35-50) most of your time is spent biking – eating – sleeping – repeating. Very little time is spent sightseeing although you see plenty of sights while riding and can stop whenever the mood hits you. Having dinner as a group is a time to explore the town a little, get to know your biking buds and guides and get a sense of the town. Oh, and eat really well.

Starting out from Comfort the conditions were close to perfect – overcast, a comfortable temperature, light traffic and a tailwind – all of which can turn any place into cycling nirvana. It was also a great route, actually all the routes were. Classic Adventures gets an A+ on route selection, choosing off-the-beaten path, yet very rideable, roads. The route sheets/trip notes were also spot on. And, since they equipped the bikes with a computer you always knew exactly where to turn. I can’t imagine doing a bike tour without a bike computer, all instructions are done by mileage so it’s no wonder people get lost without one.

Suffice it to say, the route sheets and trip notes were so detailed and precise that I followed them with no trouble – and as those of you familiar with my ability to get lost understand – that’s no small feat. 

Our first stop was at Old Tunnel State Park; to get there though, we had to climb our first significant hill. By now it was raining lightly and the temperature was getting cooler. Old Tunnel, aka Bat Cave, is an old railway tunnel and home to millions of bats. We saw neither, but it would have been cool to see the bats – from a distance.

Dale was waiting for us with the van to refill our bottles and stomachs, both of which are always appreciated. On a bike tour it’s critical to drink and eat throughout the day, food is fuel and you can’t ride without it so you must eat – it’s tough, but I’m always up for the challenge.

Speaking of eating, lunch was in Luckenbach – home to Waylon and Willie and the boys. A small place during the week, but a busy, crowded place on the weekend. The ride there was ideal; serenely beautiful in that bucolic kind of way.

Another day where we saw more horses, cows and sheep than people and cars.

Rolling into Luckenbach for our well-earned picnic lunch put us at the half way point in terms of mileage for the day. It had been an incredibly easy ride to that point; I was beginning to get my “bike touring legs”. Even though we’ve done a lot of training this year, it still takes a few consecutive days of riding to get there – guess it’s sort of like getting sea legs. Anyway, I was feeling strong and the riding seemed effortless. Could have been that tailwind too.

Every day there were mileage options, with Mark and I usually riding the longer option. 

Taking time to stop and smell the flowers.

The afternoon ride was more of the same miles of empty roads and easy riding. The kind of day when the miles rolled away easily.

When we did roll into our home for the next four nights, Inn on Barons Creek, our luggage was in the room (as it was on every other day too) so all we had to do was grab a cold beer and relax outside by the creek.

For the day, we rode 45 miles, averaged 12.0 mph, climbed 2,500 feet and burned 1,700 calories – which I would more than make up for at dinner at the excellent Bejas Grill. We walked back to our room and did something I had been looking forward to since leaving Comfort, we unpacked.

Previous posts:

Classic Adventure – Texas Hill Country

Texas Hill Country–Boerne Arrival

Texas Hill Country-Boerne to Comfort

Day 2/6 of “Biking and Blogging” on the Classic Adventures Texas Hill Country Tour.

After our morning meeting over a hearty breakfast at Ye Kendall Inn (not too Texan-y is it), we saddled up and headed out on the lovely roads of the Texas Hill Country.

My definition of lovely roads:  very little traffic, no potholes that will swallow up your bike, no beasts on 2 or 4 legs, and lovely scenery. Our ride from Boerne to Comfort offered us all of that and more.

The weather was perfect for those of us that prefer to ride without the sun beating down on us and mild temperatures. Cycling utopia.

Seriously, I didn’t expect to think that the “farm to market” (FM) roads in Texas would be my idea of cycling nirvana, but in many ways they were. They form a network through the Hill Country and other areas of Texas and are simply perfect for traveling by bike. Farm to market roads were developed to connect agricultural areas with market towns – the same types of towns that have the amenities that a cyclist needs.

One thing about the “farm to market” roads is they are all paved with chip seal. Texas sized chip seal.

Lucille, as I came to call my loaner Trek Pilot, smoothed out the chip seal or maybe I just got used to it.

The ride from Boerne to Comfort had us cross the Guadalupe River and the turn for the “Cave without a Name”. Although we didn’t stop at the cave, Dale, our resident historian (a former professor of history) explained to us how the cave got its no-name. The owner of the cave back in the 1940’s held a contest to name the cave. A boy entered the contest and suggested the cave was too beautiful to have a name and thus the no-name name.

We stopped at Sister Creek Vineyards in Sisterdale, and then on to the Sisterdale Trading Company & Saloon for a picnic lunch. Reportedly, the saloon is the oldest bar in the lone star state; from the way it reeked of cigarette smoke I’m inclined to believe it. It was a cool old bar, unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of inside.

After lunch we continued along the same type of secluded roadways with gently rolling hills. We rode together as a group for awhile and at one of the stops I took the opportunity to get this shot. Sort of reminiscent of a pro peloton stopping for “natural break” – ha.

As the week progressed the hills did too which was fine by me. My preference is always to start out with easier terrain and fewer miles, since typically I get stronger with each consecutive day.

The scenery was also going to improve we were told (and it did), but both Mark and I enjoyed the scenery of the first couple of days too – one bucolic scene after another – including the first sighting of bluebonnets.

and other wildflowers.

Our trip notes even included information on where the best photo ops were so we all stopped for this pastoral scene of the Guadalupe River.

Just a few more miles later we pulled into our next home, the Meyer Bed and Breakfast. Thanks to a couple of our riding buddies we continued our bike touring ritual of enjoying a cold beer after a day’s ride – this time on a porch overlooking the picturesque Cypress Creek. Beer always tastes best after a bike ride.

Dinner was fried shrimp and catfish, fries and hushpuppies and something equally fattening for dessert. There will be no weight loss on this bike tour.

For the day:  38 miles, 3:14 actual riding time, 1437 calories burned (and ingested at dinner), AHR 107, AVS 12. It’s a tour, I’m supposed to be slow.

Previous Posts:

Classic Adventure – Texas Hill Country

Texas Hill Country–Boerne Arrival

Day 1/6 of “Biking and Blogging” on the Classic Adventures Texas Hill Country Tour.

Doing a bike tour so close to home allowed us to drive instead of fly. We always prefer to drive when the distance is manageable in a day, sometimes even when it isn’t. If you can’t ride it, driving it isn’t bad.

Besides, when our daughter, son-in-law and the two sweetest, most adorable grandchildren in the world lived there – Austin and the University of Texas – we made the trip frequently. Other than riding in the Ride for the Roses, it was our first time to go there for the sole purpose of biking bliss.

We drove down to Boerne, TX the same day the bike tour officially began – Sunday. We would get our loaner bikes fitted, take a short ride and get acquainted over dinner. By the time we arrived everyone else was already there. We were a small group, only ten of us, including Dale and Dianne, our guides for the week, and as I mentioned in my first post Classic Adventure – Texas Hill Country, founders of the bike tour company, Classic Adventures.

Once we got our bikes adjusted we changed into our bike gear and took a brief ride around Boerne. My initial ride on my steed for the week, a Trek Pilot, had me missing both Rocket and Condor, but that would soon change. After our quick ride around Boerne we returned to Ye Kendall Inn, our home for the night to get ready to meet the gang for dinner. The rooms in the Inn were large and nicely furnished – Texas style.

It didn’t take us long to give our room our own personal touch…

Before dinner, we gathered in Dale and Dianne’s room for wine and a “meet and greet”. As usual on bike tours, the group seemed friendly and easy going. Interestingly enough, with just a few exceptions they were all retired teachers. As Mark pointed out, although he wasn’t a teacher, he had caused many to retire, so it was sort of the same thing.

We also learned about the beginnings of Classic Adventures from Dale and Dianne – an interesting story – again involving teaching – which you can read about here. For any of my fellow tour riders/former teachers reading these posts, be forewarned that I take whatever license I need with the English language and rules of grammar to tell my stories so be prepared to cringe, particularly if you taught English. Thank god you can’t use your red pen–

As is typical on bike tours we ate well, this evening at the Tin Roof steakhouse in Boerne.  As is not-so-typical on any bike ride I do, I only had salad for dinner; although the steaks looked fantastic. I would more than make up for that as the week went on.

Tomorrow our riding officially starts when we leave Boerne and ride to Comfort!

Scenes from Day 1:

There were several firsts on this bike tour: first bike tour in Texas, first bike tour with Classic Adventures and my first tour to receive compensation (significant discount on cost of my tour) for writing about the riding – win – win – win!

I will admit to a certain amount of fear and trepidation going in – what if I didn’t like the tour? I’m not a writer of fiction, just a blogger and if I didn’t enjoy the tour it would come through in my writing. I’m happy to report that, like most time that is spent worrying, it was all for naught. Now the only question is whether I can do the bike tour justice. ~ Susan

Determined to get a jump on our biking goals for this year, we decided to do an early tour. While searching online for a bike tour in the March timeframe I came across the Classic Adventures Texas Hill Country tour. Although I hadn’t heard of them before, Classic Adventures is far from new and offers a wide range of bike tours in places we would like to ride at some point – including Europe and the northeast; plus they even offer a Coast to Coast Tour across the U.S. which you can do in its entirety or in sections.

Something else I really liked is that Classic Adventures is a family owned and operated company. They have conducted bike tours for a very long time – 33 years to be exact. All of which instantly attracted me to them. Another draw was the tour price – no bike tour is cheap, but CA’s price for the Texas Hill Country tour was the most reasonable we found for the type of tour offered (support, lodging, meals, mileage options, etc.) and as it turns out a good value.

Before I get into the beyond-belief-greatness of riding in the Texas Hill Country, I want to give you a little background on the company and guides, Dianne and Dale Hart. Not only were Dale and Dianne our tour leaders, but they founded Classic Adventures way back in 1979. What started as a trip to Greece for then Professor Dale Hart to teach university students about ancient history and Greek culture, evolved into a tour of Greece by bike and finally evolving into the bike tour company now known as Classic Adventures.

Although Dale and Dianne no longer own the company, their son Benton does, they continue to lead trips. Benton and his wife, Sarah, also lead trips. In fact, Classic Adventures is a true family affair with many “Harts” involved.

Besides being nice people and great guides, Dale and Dianne also have a peloton (TDF size) of knowledge about bike touring and cycling in general. Obviously as the founders of the company, they take pride and go the extra mile to make sure tour participants enjoy themselves and have the best experience possible.

One of the things that impressed me right away about Classic Adventures was the routes and route sheets/trip notes for our tour. We rode on the most out of the way roads you can imagine through the Hill Country – off the beaten path to say the least, but good roads. To say they were lightly travelled is a huge understatement. Except for riding through the small towns and villages of Texas Hill Country, we saw very few vehicles. Truthfully, we probably saw more cows, goats, sheep, horses, deer and even elk – than we saw cars and trucks. That’s my idea of a perfect route!

In fact, our routes often felt more like paved bike paths than public use roads – with few exceptions. The trip notes provided incredible detail, leaving nothing to chance, even down to where the bent cattle guard or slick water crossing was! Seriously, the most detailed trips notes I’ve had on a tour.

Something else that was helpful was the pre-ride meeting every morning after breakfast. We’ve had these before with other tour companies but they were usually held outside just before taking off on the bike. I didn’t always pay close attention since I was also applying sunscreen, making sure I had what I needed, filling water bottles, etc. Having a brief meeting just to discuss the route particulars, lunch and snack stops, and mileage options was very helpful. When I took off on the bike each morning I felt like I had the info I needed.

As many of you know, I typically rely on Mark, (since he has a built-in GPS in his brain), to keep us on the right route but we rode apart at times so it was good to have the detailed route notes to guide me along and keep me out of trouble.

Although it wouldn’t have been bad to get a little lost, the riding in the Hill Country was such a pleasure – great routes, low-traffic roads and miles of wildflowers – especially those infamous Texas Bluebonnets.

Every day was a treat. Follow along and I’ll tell you about each of our five fantastic days of riding on the Classic Adventures Texas Hill Country tour.

Day 1:  Texas Hill Country – Boerne Arrival

Day 2:  Texas Hill Country – Boerne to Comfort

Day 3:  Texas Hill Country – Fredericksburg

Day 4:  Texas Hill Country – Willow City Loop

Day 5: Texas Hill Country – Ride to Doss

Day 6: Texas Hill Country – Hilltop Ride/Enchanted Rock